During the second trimester, your daily calorie needs increase by about 300 calories over your pre-pregnancy intake, bringing the total to roughly 2,200 calories per day for most normal-weight women. That’s not a dramatic jump, so the focus should be less on eating more and more on eating strategically. Your baby’s bones, brain, and organs are growing rapidly now, and specific nutrients become especially important.
Protein for Rapid Growth
The recommended intake during pregnancy is 71 grams of protein per day, regardless of your age. That’s about 25 grams more than what most non-pregnant women need. Protein supports the rapid cell division happening in your baby and helps your own body build the extra blood volume and tissue required during pregnancy.
Getting to 71 grams is straightforward if you spread it across meals. A chicken breast has about 30 grams, a cup of Greek yogurt around 15, and two eggs provide 12. Beans, lentils, tofu, and nuts are solid plant-based options. If you’re eating three meals and a snack or two, you can hit this target without much effort.
Key Nutrients to Prioritize
Iron
Your iron needs nearly double during pregnancy, to 27 milligrams per day. Your blood volume is expanding significantly in the second trimester, and iron is the raw material for the extra red blood cells carrying oxygen to your baby. Red meat, poultry, and shellfish provide the most easily absorbed form. Plant sources like spinach, lentils, and fortified cereals work too, but your body absorbs that iron more efficiently when you pair it with something high in vitamin C, like bell peppers or citrus fruit.
Calcium
Your baby’s skeleton is hardening during the second trimester, and that requires calcium. The recommended amount is 1,000 milligrams per day for women 19 and older, and 1,300 milligrams for those 18 and younger. A cup of milk or fortified plant milk provides about 300 milligrams. Yogurt, cheese, canned sardines (with bones), and fortified orange juice can fill the rest. If you consistently fall short through food, a supplement may be worth discussing.
Choline
Choline is one of the most under-consumed nutrients in pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends 450 milligrams per day. It plays a direct role in your baby’s brain and spinal cord development and may help prevent certain birth defects. Eggs are the single best source: two large eggs provide roughly 300 milligrams. Beef liver, chicken, soybeans, and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli also contribute, but most prenatal vitamins contain little to no choline, so food sources matter here.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
DHA, a type of omega-3 fat, is critical for your baby’s developing brain and eyes. The minimum recommended intake during pregnancy is 300 milligrams of DHA per day. Fatty fish is the most concentrated food source. Two to three servings per week of salmon, sardines, herring, or trout will typically meet this goal. If you don’t eat fish regularly, a DHA supplement (often derived from algae or fish oil) can fill the gap.
Best Fish Choices and What to Avoid
Fish is one of the best foods you can eat during pregnancy, but mercury content varies widely between species. The FDA recommends eating two to three servings per week from the lowest-mercury options: salmon, sardines, shrimp, cod, tilapia, pollock, catfish, canned light tuna, trout, herring, scallops, and crab, among others.
A handful of fish should be avoided entirely due to high mercury levels: shark, swordfish, king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, bigeye tuna, and tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico. Mercury can interfere with your baby’s developing nervous system, and these species accumulate enough to pose a real risk. Canned light tuna (skipjack) is in the safe category; it’s bigeye tuna, often sold as fresh steaks, that’s the concern.
Fiber for Constipation Relief
Constipation is one of the most common second-trimester complaints. Rising progesterone levels slow your digestive system, and a growing uterus adds physical pressure. The most effective dietary strategy is increasing fiber from whole foods: fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, and whole grains like oats, quinoa, and whole wheat bread. Prunes and prune juice are particularly effective because they contain a natural compound that draws water into the intestine.
Fiber only works well when paired with enough fluid. Aim for at least 1.6 liters of water per day, which is about six to eight glasses. If you’re active or in a warm climate, you’ll need more. Spreading water intake throughout the day is more effective than drinking large amounts at once.
What a Day of Eating Looks Like
Hitting all these targets sounds complicated in the abstract, but in practice it comes together with a few intentional choices. A breakfast of two scrambled eggs with spinach on whole grain toast covers a large portion of your choline, provides iron and fiber, and starts your protein count early. A midmorning snack of Greek yogurt with berries adds calcium and more protein.
Lunch built around beans or lentils, like a lentil soup with a side salad and citrus dressing, gives you iron, fiber, and the vitamin C to help absorb it. An afternoon handful of almonds or a piece of cheese keeps energy steady. Dinner featuring salmon with roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli delivers DHA, calcium, and additional fiber in a single plate.
The 300 extra calories your body needs can come from surprisingly small additions: a banana with peanut butter, a hard-boiled egg, or a glass of milk alongside a meal. You don’t need to overhaul your diet. The goal is adding nutrient-dense foods to what you’re already eating, not doubling your portions.
Foods Worth Limiting
Beyond high-mercury fish, a few categories deserve caution. Unpasteurized soft cheeses (like some varieties of brie, queso fresco, and feta) and deli meats carry a risk of listeria, a bacterium that’s especially dangerous during pregnancy. Heating deli meats until steaming reduces this risk. Raw or undercooked eggs, meat, and seafood should also be avoided.
Caffeine doesn’t need to be eliminated, but keeping it under 200 milligrams per day (roughly one 12-ounce cup of coffee) is the standard guidance. Sugary drinks and ultra-processed snacks aren’t off-limits, but they take up calorie space without delivering the nutrients your body is working harder to use right now. When you only need 300 extra calories, what those calories contain matters more than the number itself.